A Temple is a Terrible Thing to Waste...

The Long Journey on the Long Road

Recap 9/3/17

13

SEP/17

The party disposed of the goblin threat on Ilikur's Bridge with some setbacks, however they did gained a new found strength from the encounter (Level 2) Forinzo fixed the wagon wheel with some help and Vaitiare using up all her strength, managed to magically heal the draft horse's injured leg. The dead merchant, well at least they would bring his body back to town for a decent burial. For now, the party with Forinzo's suggestion, laid the body down inside a magical meat crate, that would preserve the poor sod and keep him properly salted… Before long and more importantly, before the sunset on the Black Maw Bog, the caravan was back on track.

The caravan traveled far enough from the bog to feel safe before making camp for the night. The group decided to make camp just west of the road, about a couple hundred feet or so, just to be safe. Just as they were getting settled for some chow, Rhobyn who had decided to take watch atop a tree, spotted two Ogres approaching on the road from the south. One of them had a robed human, tied up and slung over his back. Obviously, they were saving him for a snack later on that night but the two oaf's had not anticipated the man's non-stop and constant gabber or they would have just killed him when they first encountered him. Luckily for Sir Lowbrow, cleric of Mishakal, these two preferred their "hummie snaks" fresh. Rhobyn could see the two ogres taking turns swatting the cleric in a vain attempt to quiet the rebellious captive. He alerted his companions and they took swift action to ambush the two unsuspecting and babble lulled ogres. The ogres were no match for this well executed attack. Before Vaitiare could get a claw on her foes (from her new power shape change into a brown bear) the other members had filled the ogres full of javelins, arrows, and bolts (it's good to have ranged weapons and a low AC). The cleric was released and he most appreciatively introduced himself to the party. The party invited the cleric to make camp with them for the night. Lowbrow without any real direction decided it might be a good idea to join the party in their excursion to Red Larch. Forinzo made it real clear to the cleric he needed to pull his weight. "Shut up", "Leave me the fuck alone" and "Nobody rides for fucking free around here", were his exact words.

The caravan made it to the town of Westbridge without any further encounters. They reached town before dusk and they could see there was a large gathering near the center of town. Apparently, and old man with a scrying orb had riled up the townsfolk into a frenzy and was convincingly exploiting their fears about recent current events. "We are in for some Hard Times!!!", he exclaimed. As if in a trance, and without his usual slurring, the old man went on and on about getting hit with lightning and how you have to go down, down into the earth! Perhaps there was something more to this… The party tried to chase him down and talk with him after his strange monologue but to no avail. They disregarded the whole ordeal as the ramblings of an old fool trying to make some coin for some grog… but was it? The old man did not ask for any coin afterwards, hmm…

The caravan held up at the famous Harvest Inn for the night. However, it was quite a restless night… for some anyway. Lowbrow heard of two siblings, Oric and Lathna, gone missing while chatting with the locals. The brother and sister owned a homestead just a half mile outside of town. He decided to go investigate. He found the place completely ransacked and looted. There were a few traces of blood but not much of a trail. He decided to go back to town and wake up (interrupt meditation) the others. All but Enallis were moved by the cleric's plight. The night grew venerable but the party pressed on knowing they must depart for Red Larch again early in the morning. Lowbrow was determined to get to the bottom of this untimely disappearance but it seems he would not get very far this night. They went back to the homestead and with the help of the others they discovered a symbol had been scratches on the floorboards.

No one knew what the symbol stood for. They decided to track down some horse tracks that led to the Stone Trail to the west but trail went cold after a while. They knew the perpetrators had made their escape a long while ago and they could be anywhere in the Sumber Hills by now. Lowbrow regretted turning his back on people that needed his help but for now there was no other choice. The townsfolk were much appreciative of this stranger's interest in two of their own and would not soon forget his kindness and concern. Perhaps this might come in handy later on in the adventurers' travels…

The group, except for Enallis, was practically exhausted from having investigated the Wesbridgian's disappearance the night before. Nevertheless, they reluctantly awoke bright and early the following morning and prepared for the last leg of the journey to Red Larch. Alen awoke especially groggy that morning and much to his surprise there was no one to take his bedpan when he opened up his bedroom door! It seems the Helmed Horror grew weery of the half-elf's ordure and went off to seek greener pastures. The rest of the journey was uneventful. A few caravans going north and some travelers but nothing out of the ordinary. The party made it to Red Larch in very good time, 9 days. This would have impressed Urlam back in Triboar, except for the fact that one of his customers would not be using his services again in the future. But at least the caravan for the most part made the journey safe and sound. Now the characters find themselves in the town of Red Larch and the town is bustling with new rumors and fears of impending doom. The long journey ends and begins at the doors of the Swinging Sword…

These are but a few of the local establishments the characters passed on their way into town: